During his hospital stay, Chris received a lot of media attention and ended up repeating the story of the grizzly attack several times. Chris also received a surprise visit from one of his hockey coaches, Grant Spankie. Grant flew to Vancouver to see how Chris was doing and to take him get-well wishes and greetings from his teammates, hockey parents and from other members of the community.

Quite a few local residents also contacted the Vancouver Canucks with Chris’s story. Because of that, he was invited to watch a home game as a VIP and even got a chance to visit the Canucks’ dressing room afterward.

When he returned to Burns Lake, Chris visited the stadium to watch his teammates’ practices. He was often seen standing near one of the gates, leaning on his crutches. He also attended their games when he could.

Chris first began playing hockey when he was five years old. He got his start while living in Merritt, in the BC Interior, then continued to participate in the sport when he moved to Burns Lake at the age of seven. Although he’d played the position of goalie occasionally when he was younger, he was ten when he decided to play in net full-time. During the 2004-05 season he not only played that position for the PeeWee A team, he also played half-time for the Bantam A team -- an age group above PeeWee when the Pee Wee team could spare him.